


In the Dead of Knight

by GumbaMasta



Category: Candy Epilogues, Homestuck, Homestuck Epilogues
Genre: Abandoment, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23593408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GumbaMasta/pseuds/GumbaMasta





	In the Dead of Knight

Glassy eyes stare through you. Where once was a human being with dreams, with hopes, fears and, yes, maybe even love there is now only a sack of dead meat. Laying on the floor like a puppet whose strings have been cut mid performance.  
Dave Strider has left the building.

When he didn't turn up at your rendezvous point you and went looking for him, you picked up his scent. It led you to a building, overgrown with foliage, small patches of white still visible here and there. Inside you noticed another, strangely familiar smell. It made you feel nostalgic. Mixed in with Daves it made you apprehensive for some reason. You followed it, through a transportalizer and into a long, dark corridor. In the light of your flashlight you made out two sets of footprints in the dust. The one leading in matched Dave's boots but the one that led out gave you a start. Heavy and sharp, they had crushed and cut the carpet where they walked. A bot? A Drone!?  
You quicken your steps, and jump into a run, taking you ever further down the passage. And then you saw him.

Now you were kneeling on the floor, holding his body tight to your chest. At first you still felt some warmth in it. You hoped that maybe he would come back. But now... now you're here and he is gone. You inhale deep. You know you need to get a hold of yourself, find out what happened. You beginn to check his body for injuries, maybe a wound, a weapon nearby, anything that could give you an answer. But you can't find anything. No blood, no bruises. It's as if he just dropped dead... But something...something is off you think. You look into his empty eyes...

Jade: The shades. Where are your... Where are the sunglasses

You know that even in death, Dave would manage to hold on to them somehow. He couldn't, he wouldn't have dropped them, would he?

Jade: Did... the one who did this to you...  
Jade: They must've taken them...  
Jade: But...why. As a trophy?

You swing your flashlight around, but you can't find them. But you find a pedestal. Up against the wall you see the outlines of... a person? You sniff, the air smells of metal, of oil mixed in with the essences of sour apple. It jolts something in the back of your mind.

Grandpa shows you the thing he was building. It looks like a metal puppet. It looks just like you but in gray. He tells you that now you won't have to worry about getting hurt when you sleepwalk again. It will take care of that.

Then you're outside again. You sniff the air. There it is, a trail you can follow. You fly. You fly faster than you ever did.

...

A Broken Soul in a Shining Body. Dave Strider, true to his name for once, strides towards fate. The Maid of Time in hand, he flies into the divide. Never looking back. Never look back. GODDAMMIT! You looked back. Just before the tear in the sky closes you afford yourself one last folly. As always, regret follows on its heels. You saw her, just a hands breath away before it closed. For a fraction of a second a part of you considers turning around. An eternity for a mind in a machine. And then eternity is past. A part of you tells yourself that she will be alright, no, better than alright with you gone. That you dragged her down with your own guilt and flaws. That she is strong, stronger than you. A smaller part says you wish you would've said it to her in person. But you’ve long stopped listening to it.


End file.
